The present invention relates to retroreflective material that exhibits good retroreflective brightness when wet and good retroreflective brightness at high entrance angles.
Pavement markings, such as those on the centerline and edgeline of a roadway, are important in order to provide visual guidance for motor vehicle drivers. Pavement marking materials are used as traffic control markings for a variety of uses, such as short distance lane striping, stop bars, and pedestrian pavement markings at intersections and long line lane markings, etc. on roadways. A common form of pavement marking material is adhesive-backed tape that is applied to the roadway surface in desired location and length; the top surface of the tape having selected color and typically retroreflective characteristics.
Currently, many flat pavement markings typically rely on an exposed-lens optical system comprising transparent microspheres partially embedded in a binder layer containing reflective pigment particles such as titanium dioxide (TiO2) or lead chromate (PbCrO4) as the retroreflector mechanism. In use, light from the headlamp of a vehicle enters the microsphere and is refracted to fall on the reflective pigment. Some portion of the light is returned generally along the original entrance path in the direction of the vehicle so as to be visible to the driver. The amount of refraction and the amount of light gathering of these microspheres is dependent in part upon maintaining a low index of refraction air interface on the exposed portion of the microsphere. During rainy periods, the microspheres become wetted with water which reduces their light refracting ability resulting in much reduced retroreflective performance.
It is also known to use enclosed-lens retroreflective structures on pavement markings. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,513 (Flanagan et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,231 (Steere et al.). Enclosed-lens retroreflective sheetings with flat cover films (also sometimes referred to as top films, top sheets, cover sheets, etc.) have been constructed as a means for providing effective retroreflection under wet conditions. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,159 (McGrath) which discloses encapsulated-lens retroreflective articles and U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,967 (Bailey) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,966 (Bailey et al.) which disclose embedded-lens retroreflective articles.
Currently available low profile pavement markings provide effective retroreflective response for only a narrower range of entrance angles than is sometimes desired. For example, flat pavement markings, relying on microspheres partially embedded in layers containing diffuse pigments as described above, are most easily seen at distances of approximately 80 meters and less. At distances greater than this, retroreflective brightness declines due in part to the relatively larger entrance angles of the incident light and in part to inherently limited retroreflective brightness. In addition to generally low retroreflectivity at high incidence angles, flat pavement markings are particularly difficult to see under rainy conditions for the reasons discussed above. Raised pavement markings typically have better wet reflectivity because the rain will run off the raised portions and they sometimes use reflective systems that are inherently retroreflective when wet. However, snow removal is frequently a problem on roads bearing raised pavement markings, as the snowplows have a tendency to catch on the raised protrusions and dislodge the markings from the road surface. Also, raised pavement markings mounted as spot delineators provide relatively poor daytime-road delineation and thus commonly need to be augmented with continuous painted or tape line markings.
To expand the effective entrance angle range of a pavement marking material, combination of a light directing means with an enclosed-lens retroreflector has been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,112 (Crone) discloses an article comprising an underlying base retroreflective layer and a light directing layer comprised of a longitudinally-extending series of short transparent projections. U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,788 (Wyckoff) discloses a related type of pavement marker strip wherein the two sides of the transverse prisms are adjusted to provide for downward internal reflection into the base sheet from one side and refraction to the space between successive prisms into the base sheet from the other side. U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,346 (Wyckoff) discloses a saw-tooth-like marker strip comprising protrusions with curved edges and having upwardly disposed retroreflective members embedded therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,403 (Eigenmann) discloses a retroreflective assembly that is particularly useful for situations in which retroreflection is required in rainy conditions. The assembly disclosed therein comprises a transparent globule with a monolayer of transparent microspheres on certain portions of the globule and a reflective layer disposed behind the microspheres. The retroreflective assemblies, sometimes referred to as xe2x80x9cglobule/microsphere retroreflective assembliesxe2x80x9d, are positioned on the top surface of a pavement marking where they provide effective retroreflection of light at high incidence angles. U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,789 (Bradshaw) discloses an improved retroreflective assembly of this type and an improved method for making such an assembly.
EP Patent No. 385746 B1 (Kobayashi et al.) discloses a pavement marking comprising a layer of large glass microspheres embedded in the top of retroreflective embedded-lens type base sheeting. The retroreflective pavement marking is said to be particularly useful in rainy conditions because the larger glass microspheres are partially exposed in air.
The need exists for low profile retroreflective articles that exhibit high retroreflective brightness even at high incidence angles, that retain effective retroreflective brightness at high incidence angles even when wet, and that are durable. In addition, there exists a need for retroreflective articles exhibiting effective retroreflective response over a wide range of entrance angles for application to vertical surfaces such as guard rails, Jersey barriers, etc.
The present invention provides novel materials that exhibit surprisingly effective retroreflective properties. Materials of the invention exhibit surprisingly bright retroreflective performance at very high entrance angles (e.g., 88xc2x0 or more) and at low entrance angles, under both wet and dry conditions, and are well suited for use on vertical and horizontal surfaces. The invention also provides a method for making such materials. A glossary of some of the terms used in this application appears at the end of this specification. Much of the following description is made with specific reference to embodiments of the invention to be used as pavement marking materials. It will be understood that many aspects of such embodiments will also be relevant to embodiments used as markings on vertical surfaces.
In brief summary, in some embodiments, pavement marking materials of the invention comprise on the top surface thereof an enclosed-lens retroreflective sheet that comprises a cover layer and a monolayer of retroreflective elements wherein first portions of the monolayer are arranged in an upwardly contoured (i.e., normal to the general body or plane of the sheet) profile and second portions of the monolayer are arranged a lower, sometimes substantially planar position. Typically a material of the invention will comprise a plurality of such first portions and second portions in a single continuous sheet. An advantage of enclosed-lens retroreflective sheets is the resultant material is inherently wet retroreflective. That is, the inventive material will retroreflect during rainy conditions, when the rain has subsided but the article has not yet dried, in the early morning hours when dew has collected on the material, or under similar conditions.
Pavement marking materials of the invention provide exceptional retroreflective brightness under both dry and wet conditions. They are flexible and can be made in desired colors. In addition, the materials provided herein are low profile and conform to road surfaces very well. They are resistant to damage from traffic and withstand exposure to water, salt, oils, ultraviolet radiation, sand abrasion, high temperatures, etc. making them well suited for use on roads. They can be manufactured in continuous processes. When marking materials of the invention are applied to roads to provide traffic control markings, the delineations are more visible to motorists and thus improved safety is possible.
Retroreflective articles of the invention are particularly well suited for applications where light is incident at high entrance angles greater than about 85xc2x0, e.g., at pavement marking geometries. Such applications include pavement markings and applications where the incident light may be from any direction, such as horizontal signs. Illustrative examples of such horizontal signs include the legends and symbols commonly placed on pavement in parking lots to denote handicapped parking, and the arrows and lane markings placed on the pavement at an intersection.
In addition, retroreflective articles of the invention are also well suited for use on vertical surfaces, particularly those that are observed at high incidence angles such as guard rails, building walls along alleys, Jersey barriers, bridge abutments, posts, traffic barrels, etc. An advantage of retroreflective articles of the invention is that in addition to exhibiting improved retroreflective brightness at high incidence angles, they also exhibit high retroreflective brightness at lower entrance angles, e.g., within 30xc2x0 to 40xc2x0 of normal, in which signs are often observed. This makes articles of the invention especially well suited for use on walls and barriers along highways and other applications where a vehicle may approach the structure from a wide range of angles at which effective retroreflective brightness is desired. For example, a first road may have a vertical barrier disposed substantially parallel to a portion thereof and a second road may intersect the first road. If the barrier has an article of the present invention on the surface thereof, it will provide effective retroreflection to vehicles approaching the barrier on either road, thereby increasing safety. Retroreflective articles of the invention can be used in curved formats, e.g., wrapped around traffic cones and barrels, on curved guardrails, etc., providing excellent retroreflective brightness along essentially the entire visible portion because of the exceptional entrance angularity of the articles.